Third murder suspect gets $500,000 bondLeslie Koster, a murder suspect in the 2009 shooting death of Dover resident Clint Brown, appeared in felony bond hearings Wednesday at the Pope County Detention Center. Koster, 25, was brought to the detention center from the women's unit of the Southeast Arkansas Community Corrections Center in Pine Bluff, where she was held on a separate charge. On Dec. 29, Koster allegedly told investigators she participated in the homicide of Brown. Koste...

RJHS Quiz Bowl team places fourthThe Russellville Junior High School eighth-grade Quiz Bowl team recently competed in the Arkansas Governor’s Quiz Bowl Association Invitational Tournament. The Whirlwinds finished 5-2 on the day, which was good enough for fourth place out of 16 teams in the 5A-7A large school bracket, in spite of being shorthanded for each game. Russellville only had three players all day while all other competitors had teams of five players. In Game 1 of the ...

Standridge secures state Senate seatEditor’s note: The vote totals in this article are according to final, unofficial results posted on the Secretary of State’s website. Visit www.sos.arkansas.gov to view all results by county. Greg Standridge defeated Stan Berry in the runoff election for the District 16 state Senate seat Tuesday. Standridge received nearly 54 percent of the votes with 2,673 while Berry brought in a little more than 46 percent with 2,313. In Pope County, Standr...

Tri-Peaks Tourism Membership Banquet announcedIt’s time for the Arkansas River Valley Tri-Peaks Tourism Association to once again host its annual Membership Banquet. The banquet is set for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Paris Community Center, located at 23 E. Main St. in downtown Paris. The banquet will attract top business tourism community leaders throughout six counties. The event will celebrate the accomplishments of the past year and launch the new Tri-Peaks initiatives and the media r...

Dardanelle Primary to honor teacher with eventDARADANELLE — The Dardanelle Primary School will soon celebrate the health of one of its teachers in the upcoming Jump Rope for Heart at 10 a.m. on Feb. 27. Dardanelle Primary Principal Sue Ann Jernigan explained the importance of the annual event to the Dardanelle Board of Education members during its meeting Monday at the administration building. "This year's Jump Rope for Heart will be in honor of Carol Spears, and all the fundraising will ...

Council backs firing police chiefCLARKSVILLE — The Clarksville City Council unanimously approved backing the mayor's decision to fire Police Chief Greg Donaldson during its regular meeting Tuesday. A crowd of Clarksville residents packed City Hall for the meeting with dozens lining the walls outside council chambers after the room was filled. Dozens more gathered around a laptop and speakers used to live stream meetings. Shortly after the meeting began, City Clerk Barbara Bla...

News Briefs (Feb. 11, 2015)RHS After Prom fundraiser Thursday The Russellville High School After Prom will host a fundraiser from 5-8 p.m. on Thursday at both Wendy’s locations in Russellville. For more information, call (479) 967-8902. Pope Cattlemen’s meeting Thursday The Pope County Cattlemen’s Association will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Russellville First Assembly of God fellowship hall for the regular monthly meeting. The program will be presented by Pope Count...

Russellville's RadioShack closingMore than 15 RadioShack stores statewide are scheduled to close due to a recent announcement of bankruptcy — including the company's store in Russellville. Nearly 2,000 stores will be closed by March 31, and other stores in Arkansas scheduled to close includes one store in Fort Smith, Bryant, Cabot, Jonesboro, Benton, Conway, Paragould, Harrison, Pine Bluff, Camden, Mountain Home, North Little Rock and three stores in Little Rock, according to...

Gleason donates $67,000 to Tech FoundationMildred Diane Gleason, associate professor of history at Arkansas Tech University, made a $67,000 gift to the Arkansas Tech Foundation that will allow the institution to provide scholarship assistance for qualified individuals of Mexican descent. Gleason’s gift fulfills the final requirement of a $33,000 grant that Arkansas Tech received from the Consulate of Mexico in Little Rock in November 2014. The university was required to obtain a match...

Clarksville board approves future maintenance purchaseCLARKSVILLE — The Clarksville Board of Education purchased property to relocate the maintenance department during a called meeting Thursday at the administration building. The board approved the purchase of 2.83 acres on Clark Road with a 500-square foot metal building for $130,000, as well as authorized a $305,705 lease purchase agreement for purchase, building remodeling and renovations. Superintendent David Hopkins said the purchase was mad...

Clarksville student to compete at stateCLARKSVILLE — A sixth-grader from Clarksville won a region-wide chemistry competition and will move on to compete at the state level. Roc Webb, a sixth-grader from Kraus Middle School, bested a field of 17 students to become the River Valley You Be The Chemist Challenge Champion. Local students came together in Clarksville to compete for the top prize. Webb will represent the River Valley at the state-level competition. Developed by the Chemic...

Don't forget to vote!Get out and vote! Today is election day in the runoff for the District 16 State Senate seat between Greg Standridge of Russellville and Stan Berry of Dover. Polls are open today from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at six locations throughout the county — Atkins, Crow Mountain, Hector, Pottsville, Dover and Russellville. A polling location is open at the W.J. Matthews Civic Center in Atkins for voters in the Atkins, Economy and Pea Ridge precincts. Cro...

Davis helps celebrate Black History Month as speakerArkansas Tech University-Ozark Campus announced Edmond Davis will be a guest speaker to help celebrate Black History Month. Davis will speak at 9:45 a.m. on Feb. 17 in the Student Services Conference Center. This event is free and open to the public. A class facilitator at Arkansas Baptist College and the University of Phoenix in Little Rock, “Davis is believed to have the largest collection of Arkansas Tuskegee Airmen history memorabilia in t...

Bond hearingsThe following individuals appeared during felony bond hearings Monday at the Pope County Detention Center. Their names, ages, anticipated charges and bond amounts are listed. If charged, they will appear March 9 in Circuit Court. • Haley Rudd, 28, burglary, felon in possession of a firearm, possession of drug paraphernalia and fleeing — $20,000. On Saturday, Rudd said her boyfriend drove her to a residence and told her to stay in the car, acco...

Traffic stop nets 50 pounds of drugsA California couple may face charges of possession of a controlled substance with the purpose to deliver and possession of drug paraphernalia following a Sunday traffic stop. Leonard Coles, 67, and Mary Coles, 66, of Covelo, Calif., were stopped for improper lane use shortly before 7 p.m. Sunday heading east near the 92 mile marker on Interstate 40, according to a police report. The officer reported noticing a strong smell of marijuana when he...

Pottsville, Dover rank best in statewide pollTwo Arkansas River Valley districts ranked within the top 25 of the Best Public School Districts in Arkansas in the 2015 Niche Rankings. Pottsville School District earned a No. 22 ranking, and Dover earned a No. 25 ranking in the recent classification, according to k12.niche.com. Pottsville Superintendent Larry Dugger said the ranking is an honor for not only the school but the entire community. "We're always excited when a ranking like this c...

News Briefs (Feb. 10, 2015)Cattlemen’s Association at First Assembly The Pope County Cattlemen’s Association will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday in the fellowship hall at Russellville First Assembly. A meal will be provided, with potluck desserts to be brought by members. Everyone is invited to attend. ATU theater program to present two plays The Arkansas Tech University theater program will offer its patrons two plays for the price of one during a three-day run of performance...

The race is on (Feb. 8, 2015)Editor’s note: Will Berry is a member of the board of directors for the RussVegas Half Marathon and Relay. He will write a column about various topics relating to the half-marathon in the weeks leading up to the April 10-11 event. This week he did a Q & A with two of the winners from last year’s event. Carson Miller, 19, of Dover was the 2014 RussVegas Overall Winner with a time of 1:18:52. How long have you been running? I ran my first race w...